Emerging paradigms in targeted treatments for Asian patients with NSCLC

Abstract

Introduction: EGFR-targeted drugs have been successfully approved in many countries and have demonstrated higher efficacy and lower toxicity than chemotherapy in molecularly defined subgroups of patients. Significant advances in clinical trials and studies focusing on targeted therapies have rapidly developed in Asia.

Areas covered: In the present review article, all of the published data or meeting abstracts on completed or ongoing trials of targeted treatment for Asian patients with NSCLC were collected and analyzed.

Expert opinion: Routine molecular testing has been used clinically to identify mutations/fusions and guide patient selection for targeted therapies. Based on the evidence presented, we provided up-to-date treatment recommendations for Asian patients with advanced NSCLC. Future directions, including dividing Del19 and L858R patients into two distinct populations, will optimize therapeutic strategies for L858R patients and may inform rational trial design by considering the proportion of type of sensitive EGFR mutation as a stratification factor. Another important aspect to consider involves how to monitor resistance to TKIs, which will improve the outcome for lung cancer patients with driver gene mutations.

Keywords: Asian population; NSCLC; clinical trials; targeted therapy.